Fiji utilizes exchanges, excitement to qualify for pole position

Phi Gamma Delta survived cold temperatures and the exchange problems that plagued many teams to earn the pole position for the 51st Men's Little 500.\nFiji earned the pole by recording a time of 2:30.00 Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium. Delta Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon qualified second and third with times three seconds behind that of Fiji.\nJunior Fiji rider Mike Nierengarten called his team's time extremely good moments after he got off the track.\n"With the conditions, you don't know what the track is going to be like," Nierengarten said. "Ultimately, we wanted to qualify and get a good position that was hopefully in the first two rows."\nFiji's qualifying attempt took place at 11:30 a.m. when temperatures hovered in the low 30s. The team waited nearly seven hours before learning it had secured the pole. \nEarning the pole position excited members of the fraternity, who battled the cold to support the team. At all four of the track's turns, a group of Fiji fans cheered its riders.\n"Our crowd is amazing," Nierengarten said. "It really helps when you have people behind you and supporting you."\nFiji also helped itself by piecing together some of day's smoothest exchanges. The exchanges between sophomore Adam Shields, junior Andrew Wilson, Nierengarten and senior Todd Cornelius saved Fiji time and the aggravation of going back to the warm-up area for another attempt. Nierengarten said Fiji worked hard on its exchanges in Gainesville, Fla., during spring break. Fiji also dedicated a lot of its track practice to changing riders.\n"The key to qualifying is having good exchanges and it paid off for us," Nierengarten said.\nFiji was one of the few teams to qualify on its first attempt. Mishandled exchanges and falls forced many teams into using their second and third qualifying attempts.\nCutters, the 2000 race champions, didn't qualify until their third attempt. The team, with four first-year riders, qualified in 25th position with a time of 2:49:45. The team fouled on the opening exchange in its first two attempts.\n"We were calm and relaxed, and we knew we were going to make the race," senior Cutters rider Chris Sahagun said of the team's approach to its final attempt. "We rode conservatively and it went OK."\nSigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Tau Delta, teams that recorded top 10 finishes in the 2000 race, also used three attempts to qualify. Delta Tau Delta qualified 13th with a time of 2:40.57 and Sigma Alpha Epsilon qualified 18th with a 2:44.70.\n"We had to tone it down quite a bit in the turns because you're riding through sand," junior Delta Tau Delta rider Ryan Tolle said. "We needed to slow down our exchanges a lot on the last attempt."\nLast year's pole winner, Delta Chi, was forced into a second attempt after senior Jason Sonneborn fell on Turn 1 during the team's first effort. Delta Chi finished second with a time of 2:33.35.\n"The pole is a great thing," Sonneborn said. "There's a lot of hype to getting it and stuff, but Cutters qualified third last year and they won the race."\nPhi Delta Theta qualified with a time of 2:34.09, edging out Alpha Tau Omega for the fifth spot. Briscoe, Chi Phi, Cinzano, Dodds House and Teter took spots 6-10. Road Rage, Zeta Beta Tau, Region Crew, Army ROTC and Alta failed to qualify for the 33-team field.